Northpointe april 4 2014

NORTH GROSSE POINTE NORTH HIGH SCHOOL

SINCE 1968

POINTE FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2014

Administration tackles disproportionality and disciplinary action with Academic Learning Center

By Sydney Thompson & Colleen Reveley Senior assistant editors

ON CAMPUS Choir students take trip to Nashville to visit historical music museums. page 4

THIRD QUARTER ENDS

Today at 3:05 p.m.

BAND AND ORCHESTRA CONCERT

Sunday, April 6 at 7 a.m. at Orchestra Hall

ACT TESTING

Saturday, April 12 at 8 a.m. at North

NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

Tuesday, April 15, due to full-day staff development

SPRING FASHION SHOW

Thursday, April 10 at 6 p.m. at Grosse Pointe Yacht Club

IDEAS

“IWhen look in the

mirror, I don’t see skinny,

like I have no perception of it. I just see page 3

“

me.

Legislatures in the nation are now focusing on the differences in treatment of special education students and minority students in public schools.

The problem came to light in recent reports by the U.S. Department of Education. State education departments all over the country researched the statistics in each district to find disproportionalities among the treatment of students.

The Michigan Department of Education’s (MDE) June report found the district to be “significantly” disproportionate in the number of suspensions and expulsions given. They found that the number of black, biracial and impaired black students that were suspended was notably higher than the number of suspended students in any other race.

“I guess this issue leaves me feeling very conflicted because I am very saddened and disheartened. You never want a group of students to be mistreated, and I’m not saying that certain groups of students have been mistreated, but if there’s a group of students that’s more frequently being suspended than others, it’s our obligation as educators to look at that and figure out why and what else we can do differently,” principal Kate Murray said. “But on the other hand, also, I’ve put on my principal hat. I review what we’ve done here, and I want to make sure that we’ve been thoughtful and sensitive to assigning consequences while still creating a safe, learning-focused environment here at North.”

When these reports were administered to individual districts, a state representative checked to see whether or not a district was working on the issues at hand, assistant principal Tom Beach said.

At the district level, administration is dissecting the statistics and has urged individual buildings to focus on improving disciplinary actions.

“Some of the items we’re doing is looking at the segregating data of suspensions and discipline issues that have occurred at the high school levels and actually even at the middle school levels,” Director of Special Education Stefanie Hayes said.

“The other part that we’re working on is alterna-

Dialogue in special education reveals miscommunication

By Haley Reid & Lauren Semack

managing editor & senior ASSISTANT EDITOR

Nine optimistic parents shuffled into a small conference room at Barnes Early Childhood Center on an August afternoon in 2013. They met with Stefanie Hayes, director of special education. Members of the Down Syndrome Guild of Grosse Pointe knew what each parent would say and came with photos of their children in hand.

The head of the Guild, Jennifer Munson, sat in a leather chair opening with a statement that called the current preschool program “antiquated, non-compliant with IDEA and discriminatory.”

Now, eight months later, the conversation between central administration and the Guild continues. To address it, administration has been meeting with the group to keep communication fluid. Hayes believes the department is communicating effectively and efficiently with the parents, but the parent group disagrees.

“We haven’t met yet again since last month, and our meetings with them have been not very productive up until the last one. Last meeting, we started talking about timelines and like, ‘Let’s focus on one thing at a time.’ So they’re going to focus on preschool, and they’re going to focus on fake gen ed,” Munson said. “I’ll give (them) the benefit of the doubt because I don’t necessarily want to burn bridges, but last meeting (Hayes) said, ‘We’re going to meet in late March.’ But she hasn’t called yet or sent an email to me yet, and she hasn’t given us an update.”

The group requested the district contract an ombudsman, a type of parent liaison who can assist central administration and parents in their communication. The School Board decided at its March 24 meeting it wanted further discussion before deciding to get one or not.

“Anything that will help open up communication between parents and the school system is important,” Sue Lucchese, a special education department supervisor, said. “I would prefer getting to talk with families and parents directly, understanding that they may be nervous or have worries but that we would really like to work on communicating directly with our families.”

@myGPN

United States by the numbers 12% of black females received Contrasted to 2% of white females at least one in-school suspension dur- who received at least one in-school ing the 2011-2012 school year. suspension.

3

18% of students enrolled in

minority students are suspended American public schools are black. times more often than white students.

However, they make up almost of amount reallocated from spesuspensions. cial education to fund disproportionality in discipline.

50%

$1,115,597

Graphic by sydney Thompson washingtonpost.com

tives to suspensions, which includes use of, for example, the student support systems.”

Funding worth $1.1 million from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is being reallocated to early prevention, grades K-6, for behavioral issues. The MDE does not allow for IDEA funding to go towards high schools itself.

“The funding is rather complex. It’s money from the IDEA funding, which is special education funding that goes towards students that are at risk,” Hayes said. “When you have disproportionality, the money goes towards programs that are in buildings that are in the district that has at-risk students in that. And currently, we have such. For example, we have a kindergarten interventionist, reading interventionist. We have math and reading supports at the middle school levels.”

North’s system of combatting disproportion in discipline among minority students is the Academic Learning Center (ALC). The ALC is a staffcreated alternative to in-school suspensions.

“It was a group effort, and it arose out of identifying a problem, which was that we had students that were frequenting our in-school suspension too often. And sometimes, the ISS room wasn’t as academic as we had hoped that it would be,” Murray said. “So we understood and identified that we would love for students that were in that room to be in front of an academic teacher and have to An anthropology major, Munson thinks the difficulty in communication is due to parents and administration having two different cultures.

“To me, this is a very interesting tribe to study because parents of students with special needs are an interesting tribe because we are motivated,” Munson said. “But then the school district is its own tribe. It totally has its own culture, its own language, its own beliefs, morals and philosophy, and it’s hard to change. It’s hard to communicate.”

The parent group requested that central administration integrate students with special needs with their typical peers, forming one preschool program instead of two at Barnes.

“It’s hard to deal with people that are so intransitive. It’s simple. It’s not very much. A pilot preschool doesn’t take much. Some creative thinking – God forbid,” Munson said.

Superintendent Dr. Thomas Harwood and the Board invited Dr. Eleanor White, Michigan Director of Special Education, to speak at the March 10 Board meeting.

“It provides an additional lens on what we’re doing in special education and sometimes looking through a different lens helps us highlight and look deeper at programs and services that we offer,” Harwood said.

Dr. White’s presentation to the Board was crafted with main points she said she found problematic in the state. It also spotlighted issues she thinks Grosse Pointe needs to pay attention to. “(The Board) wanted to hear my ideas about special education because I’m not a part of the school district,” White said. “I think sometimes people believe that ... it gives a little more credence because the message comes from someone who isn’t a part of the system. I put my own material together based on information I have at the state about Grosse Pointe.”

Three- and five- day programs are offered at Barnes and cost between $600 and $975 a month.

The state of Michigan does not mandate preschool, therefore students pay tuition, whereas in a K-12 setting, education is funded by taxes, grants and milleages. Students with special needs also have the right to a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), which provides free services such as occupational therapy. White said FAPE does not cover preschools in Michigan, so funding is the crux of the issue.

“Inclusion in preschool in Michigan is not available in the same way as in a K-12 system.

www.myGPN.org

have academic obligations each hour.”

Murray is enthusiastic about the ALC, as it just requires reorganization of teachers’ free hours.

“The ALC doesn’t cost us any extra money beBy Sydney Thompson Senior aSSiStant cause whateditor has happened was instead of a teacher covering a tutorial, they volunteer to cover the ALC for that hour,” Murray said. “What happens, though, is that that is one less teacher that has a tutorial during that hour. So there might be more students in the other tutorials.”

Beach notes the continuation of education during discipline, in contrast to the past in-school suspensions, creates a more positive benefit.

“One of the things we did this year that had a significant change was instead of having the inschool suspension program, we created the Academic Learning Center. And that was a way to try and impact those numbers of statistics of suspensions. Kids were missing classes so we were giving them an in-school suspension, and all of the sudden we have more kids being suspended even though we are trying to address an attendance issue,” Beach said. “Now, they are in with a certified teacher who is getting their work and bringing it to them and things like that. They’re not in with their teacher, but they are getting access to their academics taught by someone in their subjects.”

Gay marriage in legal limbo

By Izzy Ellery senior ASSISTANT EDITOR

Tweets with rainbow emoji flooded Twitter.

Gay and lesbian couples lined up at Michigan county clerk offices to sign marriage licenses. U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman struck down the same-sex marriage ban in Michigan.

But the celebrations were put to a halt when an appeals court restored the ban. The appeals court has now issued an indefinite stay, putting gay marriages to a standstill while the appeals process occurs. According to www.

MSN.com, those who married in that time frame will receive federal benefits.

“Now, Michigan’s attorney general has appealed (the judge’s ruling) and has vowed to appeal that all the way to Supreme Court, so he’s saying that because it’s in Michigan’s constitution, he has to uphold that, even if that means taking it to the Supreme Court,” history teacher Bridget Cooley said.

“So nothing’s happening right now. It’s in limbo.”

According to CNN, the federal court decided to continue the stay because of similar happenings in Utah. The Supreme Court suspended Utah’s decision that overturned their gay marriage ban.

Junior Hope Haynes, who is openly gay, was confused when she heard the news about the Court of Appeals.

“When I first heard about it, I didn’t really understand right away like what it was. I was like, ‘So can we not get married or?’ I was just confused, but I guess it’s understandable. But at the same time, it’s like ‘What do you really need to do?’” Haynes said. “I feel like it’s already been judged.”

In 2004, voters in 11 states, one of them being Michigan, voted that marriage was between a man and a woman, according to CNN. But in the last decade, public opinion has begun to shift, steering away from this view of marriage. Cooley recognizes this change and feels that a change with gay rights is bound to happen.

“I think it has to happen, that’s my

Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 2

VOLUME 46, ISSUE 12

© 2014 North Pointe

news

2 – Friday, April 4, 2014 – North Pointe

Gay marriage Continued from page 1

personal opinion. I think that eventually we’re going to see gay marriage and gay rights be accepted in the United States. I actually think it’s happening sooner than I thought it would, to be honest with you, given that in ‘04 Michigan banned it. I think

Scheduling issues increase online enrollment

By Melina Glusac & Diajah Williams senior assistant editor & staff Reporter

Online classes are steadily becoming a more popular alternative for students as they trade in their traditional desks for computers. Senior Colleen Maher decided to try taking an online course after facing some scheduling issues.

“I took freshman English (composition) through Macomb Community College,” Maher said. “I’m using it for high school credit, but it’s like a college course. It’s kind of almost the equivalent of taking an AP, and if I pass the class, I could get college credit for it.”

Similarly, senior Conner Blaine, who exhausted all math classes, enrolled in two different statistics classes online.

“I took AP Statistics semester one (online) and then was in the middle of semester two when I dropped,” Blaine said via email. “Since they’re still AP classes, they’re just alternative high school classes, though obviously still college level statistics.”

Online classes are a statewide trend on the rise. According to a report from the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute, the number of K-12 students taking online classes has increased 52% within the past three years.

“The major benefit of taking the online class was that I could do it on my own time when I wanted,” Blaine said. “For example, I had seventh hour free last semester and could leave school. If I needed to work, I would work, but if not I could use my time for something else.”

While online classes may seem subject to upperclassmen, Spanish teacher Mike Spears believes there are factors other than grade level that contribute to success.

“I would not recommend online classes based on grade level, but rath-

we’ve seen in the last decade a lot of big change in culture, people that have become much more accepting, which is not to say everyone does,” Cooley said.

Despite the fact that the gay rights movement is seeing more support, there are still those in opposition.

“I watched the news when it all happened and there was a bunch of pastors on there, and there was 600 or 700 pastors there and then all of the people

that disagree. So there’s definitely a lot of people fighting back like that, but I hope that it doesn’t change anything,” Haynes said.

Regardless of immediate celebrations and opposition regarding the judge’s ruling on the ban, gay marriage in Michigan is still in legal limbo.

“This case is not over, and an ultimate decision regarding gay marriage is yet to come,” senior Grant Strobl said.

er, I would base my recommendation on a student’s commitment to success and ability to work independently,” Spears said. “I’ve seen younger students quickly ace an online class and I’ve seen older students barely log on to the system and fail.”

Online classes offer a larger variety of courses but are still being evaluated in terms of their reliability as a substitute.

“It’s a good option for people who can’t fit stuff into their schedule, and it opens up a lot of flexibility,” Maher said. “But at the same time, I don’t think people should really rely on that.”

Students taking one or more online courses have a higher percentage of completion (68%) than those students who took on heavier class loads

or the book during tests or assignments, deadlines aren’t firm and don’t punish students for turning in work late,” Blaine said. “It’s easy for somebody to slip into a hole that way, given that there’s nothing that’s motivating or pushing them to do the work.”

Maher was able to complete the course despite the difficulties of a non-classroom setting.

“I’m done with the class now because I took an accelerated class. Instead of a 16-week course, I had an 8-week course where they crammed everything into eight weeks, which was extremely stressful, but at least now I’m done,” Maher said. “And this is technically my dual-enrollment time in my schedule, but I get to work on my independent study stuff.”

The report’s study of overall effectiveness was mixed. Blended students (enrolled in online and traditional classes) completed 60% of schooling, whereas non-online students’ rate of completion was 72%.

Despite her success, Maher also missed the human interaction of traditional classrooms.

“You do kinda miss that like, ‘Oh, here are my classmates.’ You feel like your professor. Although you can email them, they aren’t as accessible,” Maher s a i d .

“That part is something people consider before they take them. You have to manage your time really well.”

According to the report, seniors had the highest number of students, 15% of the total students enrolled, who utilized online classes. Maher and Blaine justify this statistic, as they recommend only upperclassmen take online classes because of the self-motivation and responsibility required.

“It’s one of those things where it’s a great option if you really need it, but I don’t think people should be actively seeking out online classes unless there is like ‘Oh, I have an issue with my schedule,’ or ‘Oh, I just wanna really fit in one more class,’ or they’re looking for a cheaper alternative. Or if there’s some circumstance where they feel like they really think it’d be a good option to take it, I’d say go for it,” Maher said. “But I don’t really see it as a replacement for so many classes.”

“

You do kinda miss that like, ‘Oh here are my classmates.’ You feel like your professor. Although you can email them, they aren’t as accessible.

Colleen Maher Senior

in a traditional classroom setting, the report said.

Regardless of the number of classes, Spears believes commitment is vital.

“If a student is not committed to the process, is a procrastinator or can’t work unsupervised, my experience is that that student’s level of success is greatly impacted,” Spears said.

“Also, help from the online teacher isn’t as immediate as it is from a realworld teacher.”

Blaine felt pressure.

“The online classes can’t really compare to a normal class. There’s no student teacher relationship that can aid the student, and there’s no accountability. There’s nothing stopping somebody from pulling up notes

Science Olympiad places fifth

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At the Wayne Monroe Science Olympiad Regional event, the Science Olympiad team placed fifth overall and was points away from a spot at States. The team participated in 23 test and build-based events, including subjects like chemistry, physics base, biology, earth science and build tasks.

Although the team did not place high enough to advance to States, its members placed first, second or third place in seven events and produced a good showing at Regionals. Senior Sarah Schade won second place in Geologic Mapping and third in Dynamic Planet.

“It was good, especially with rocks and minerals. It was nice to know that all the work we put in came out,” Schade said.

Overall, the team was pleased with their placement this year and was proud of the growth they have experienced.

“Even though we got fifth last year and fifth this year, it seems like we did better this year,” senior Emily Alway said.

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Special education Continued from page 1

The way that the funding is structured, students, in order to get funding, have to be in a classroom with a special ed teacher. So that’s why students are placed in a special ed classroom,” White said. “The funding in the state does not include inclusive preschool programming. A district could take some money and develop such a program.”

Chris Fenton, deputy superintendent for business and operations, said in light of these conversations between administration and the group, a new preschool program is being developed for next year: a three-hour program in the morning and a four-hour program in the afternoon.

Both will cost tuition for typical or special education students.

“I’ve said to (administration) in meetings, ‘I will pay tuition for Gemma to go there if you make a program that I feel is worthwhile.’ Trust is still lacking,” Munson said.

A single slide in White’s presentation read, “$1,115,597.”

This is the amount that’s been taken from special education to support what the district specifies as “at-risk children.” Hayes said these students are generally those that are struggling with academics and behaviors and need extra support to be successful.

“I’m sure parents are probably saying, ‘Why don’t you take that $1 million and set up (an inclusive preschool) program?’ Well, you can’t do that because the money cannot be spent below kindergarten,” White said. “You can’t take that $1 million and spend it on three and four-yearolds because the state doesn’t allow it.

White said when she assumed office, she made it a point to visit districts like Grosse Pointe that have high disproportionality with discipline in regards to special education students.

“To remove them from the environment is very serious to me,” White said. “Because to remove someone that is already behind academically is not going to be c h a l l e n g e d in order to move towards success because they’re not in school.

Fenton said funding for special education comes from federal, state and local levels.

“It doesn’t get taken out (by us), it gets taken out of the grant, we use it for certain activities,” Fenton said. “We don’t lose the money, but we have to allocate it for early intervention and at-risk students instead of special education, so we’re still using it for students, but we have to earmark it in another direction.”

In the state of Michigan, Grosse Pointe Public School System is within the top 10 highest paying for both general and special education teacher salaries, Fenton said.

He said overall, the district pays more on everything compared to other districts in the state.

“If you look at our budget compared to other budgets ... we spend more just in general. That will hold true for special education, we’re on the higher end ... so if you compare our dollars spent ... we’re going to spend more on special ed because in general we spend more because teacher salaries are higher here,” Fenton said.

Fenton said that while he would welcome more money for both general and special education, the district will have to make do with what it has because an increase in funds is unlikely.

White supports the state’s decision to reallocate the money for at-risk students.

“If we can enhance programs for students who are at-risk, then perhaps we will not have as many students identified as students with disabilities,” White said. “So I would spend that money to support at-risk students.”

Hayes said that if the $1.1 million were available, it wouldn’t make a difference.

“I don’t see that it would do anything excessively different ... we are providing top-notch programs and services, so what it would do, it would shift monies in the district, not the department,” Hayes said. “It would support different avenues in the district not necessarily for special ed students only.”

Munson strongly disagreed and said that there are many services that students do not get enough of and $1.1 million would be beneficial.

“What have we been talking about? The training, the classroom for kids so they can mingle with typical students at the preschool level, extended school year services, an increase in occupational, speech and physical therapy,” Munson said. “Right now, we’re only getting the bare minimum. Other districts go much further. That’s not really the fault of (the teachers). I would just like to have some visionary leadership.”

Munson wants to see a shift in special education practices.

“It’s about our community,” Munson said. “When students with special needs are in gen ed classrooms starting from very young, their classmates grow up thinking disability is normal, and that’s the kind of culture and community we want to help create.”

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IDEAS A house divided “Grosse Pointe Public School administrators and teachers are responsible for encouraging and ensuring freedom of expression and freedom of the press for all students, regardless of whether the ideas expressed may be considered unpopular, critical, controversial, tasteless or offensive.”

Board of Education Policy

Erica Lizza co-Editor-in-Chief

Anu Subramaniam Co-editor-in-chief

Haley Reid managing editor

Olivia Asimakis news editor

Brittney Hernandez Life EDITOR

Wendy Ishmaku business manager

Dora Juhasz web news editor

Jennifer Kusch ideas editor

Kaley Makino web ideas editor

Our editorial represents the opinion of the North Pointe Editorial Board consisting of the editors above and staff members Diajah Williams and Ritika Sanikommu. Members who have a conflict of interest with an editorial topic do not partake in that meeting or vote.

our editorial

Race-based disciplinary reforms miss their mark Obama administration’s palliative remedy for disproportion comes with a misdirected focus, poses more problems than solutions Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently announced guidelines for school discipline reforms in an effort to address the disproportionately high numbers of black and Hispanic students receiving suspensions or expulsions.

The policy attempts to remove discrimination from school punishment by requiring the ratio of races in a school to be proportional to the numbers of students of each race who receive suspensions or are expelled. It also attempts to put an end to the “school-to-prison pipeline,” the pattern that indicates repeatedly suspended and expelled students become more likely to end up in prison.

However, the new guidelines create the probability of reverse discrimination in the punishment system.

Schools may ignore reality when deciding disciplinary action, instead fixating on proportional numbers.

Holder and Duncan are entirely justified in asserting that there is no place for racial discrimination in schools. Enforcing rules more strictly for any group of students or punishing certain students more severely for the same offense is unacceptable. Yet it is just this situation that will occur as schools struggle to meet quotas. A student’s prior behavior and the severity of his or her offense should be the only factors that affect the course of disciplinary action.

The disparity on which the policy is based is seen as evidence of racial discrimination in student punishment. However, this disproportionality likely reflects the effects of socioeconomic factors on student behavior. The 2010 census shows that 25.6% of African Americans and 16.2-23.6% of Hispanics in the United States are living below the poverty level (versus 11.6% of whites). Low socioeconomic status impacts the safety and standards of living in a child’s neighborhood, the influence of people he or she is surrounded by and the quality of schools he or she attends. As a result, many students from these backgrounds repeatedly get into trouble both in and out of school. This policy diverts attention from the important issues minority students face that leave them more likely to attend underfunded, underperforming schools and have a higher high school dropout rate than their white peers.

Though well-intentioned, this policy has the potential to create reverse discrimination. A school faces the threat of slashed federal funding or lawsuits if its numbers of disciplined students do not correlate to its racial makeup. Compliance will encourage administrators to let race affect punishment. Schools may be inclined to let some students’ infractions go unpunished if disciplinary action would exceed a race’s allotted portion. Students who commit small misdeeds for the first time should not face unfair punishment to meet a school’s quota and keep numbers in statistical proportion.

Instead of attempting to meet unrealistic disciplinary numbers, schools should be encouraged to create preventative programs to help students who are more likely to misbehave. Schools should discipline with one only thing in mind: the well-being of all of their students. Administrators have an obligation to maintain a safe learning environment for their students, and disciplining students is often necessary to accomplish this. Teachers and administrators should not be afraid to punish students who are a disruption because they are afraid to exceed a quota. This policy de-emphasizes students’ wellbeing, which should be the priority.

I wouldn’t have ever imagined the possibility of moving until I went off to college. I always thought I would grow up in the same brick house for 18 years.

This all changed when my parents decided to pack my brother and me up and move our family to the “south end” of the My TURN Pointes during jenna belote my junior year.

Not only did it distance me from where I used to live, but it created a comical rivalry between my “Blue Devil” freshman brother and my inner “Norsemen” pride as a senior. My family is now a divided house: high school version.

I didn’t care about the clash between schools. I was used to the North-South rivalry. However, I did have a very strong opinion in the decision that I would stay and finish school at North. I knew a few kids at South because of sports, but I didn’t want to leave my best friends and the familiarity of North to become a “new kid” for my coveted senior year.

My brother, on the other hand, had different plans in mind.

Mathew was in eighth grade when we moved, so he’s now a freshman. Having friends going to both North and South, he decided to go to South because it was much closer and seemed to be the best fit. Neither Mathew nor I knew what kind of rivalry would come our way for his first - and my last- years of high school.

I currently live 15 minutes away from North. It takes this long for me to drive from my driveway to the front of school.

This already long commute becomes even longer for me because I have to drop my brother off at South and then

“I know who’s in the bracket, but I haven’t participated. The Gators (will win).”

Ronnie Keener freshman

travel to my own school. It’s difficult, but we have managed to come up with a system that works for us. Although that is only the beginning of the day.

During family discussions at dinner, regardless of topic, my brother always has to challenge the reputation of each school and how different they really are.

From comparing what restaurants are around for students to go for lunch, to the type of dress that is popular within each student body, he will go on and on about the differences.

Having seniority over Mathew can always be an advantage when it comes to harmless rivalry games. I used to joke that I would personally pick the punishment that he would get on the supposed “freshman friday.” Now that he escaped at the best time, I still joke around with him during big events between our schools. During the NorthSouth football game, I warned him that I’d burn anything South related that he owned. In his defense, he threatened to paint my car in South colors. In the end, no belongings were harmed and it was all fun and games, even though the turnout of the game itself was in his favor.

Being a freshman, my brother doesn’t quite understand the joking side of the Grosse Pointe rivalry. He takes it more seriously because the only thing he’s known is that Norsemen and Blue Devils shouldn’t get along. Through sports and extracurriculars, each school has its own strong and weak points. We tend to only focus on the bad points of our rivals, but we need to focus on helping each other improve. The big difference is how we perceive ourselves and our surroundings, even with some friendly rivalry.

“(Yes), because I find it interesting. Probably Michigan State.”

Javontae Hall

“Yes, because I really like watching basketball. Michigan State (will win); I pick them every year, even if they’re really bad.”

Katie Roy

sophomore

junior

YOUR TURN: Are you participating in March Madness and who will win?

By Lauren Semack & Sydney Thompson

“I don’t pay attention to March Madness because basketball’s a boring sport to me.”

Joey Garvin senior

“I have a bracket, but I haven’t registered just because it’s fun to see how right – or absolutely wrong – I am. Michigan State (will win).”

Mrs. Pappas math teacher

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF: Erica Lizza, Anu Subramaniam MANAGING EDITORS: Haley Reid, Andrea Scapini SECTION EDITORS: Olivia Asimakis, Katelyn Carney, Brittney Hernandez, Jennifer Kusch WEB MANAGING EDITOR: Emma Puglia WEB SECTION EDITORS: Yena Berhane, Dora Juhasz, Kaley Makino, Emily Martinbianco, BUSINESS MANAGER: Wendy Ishmaku SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITORS: Patricia bajis, Marie Bourke, Gabby Burchett, Izzy Ellery, Melina Glusac, Kristen Kaled, Maria Liddane, Dayle Maas, Colleen Reveley, Lauren Semack, Brigitte Smith, Sydney Thompson PHOTO EDITORS: Alanna Sparks, Jeffrey Valentic ASSISTANT EDITORS: Josie Bennett, Emma Brock, Mora Downs, Erin Haggerty, Audrey Kam, Billy Moin, Lillian Rancourt, Thomas Remenar, Ritika Sanikommu, Gowri Yerramalli STAFF REPORTERS: Alex Batts, Dajai Chatman, Radiance Cooper, Mallika Kanneganti, Kristina Kowalski, Kayla Luteran, Josie Riley, Luke Sturgill, Addison Toutant, Diajah Williams INTERNS: Claire Dalian, Lawrence Lezuch, Stephanie Roy The North Pointe is edited and produced

North Pointe – Friday, April 4, 2014 – 3

“My family and I all have a bracket pool that we do for fun. I always pick Duke because I love that coach, and they lost in the first round, so ... ” Mr. Bandfield Athletic Director

by Advanced Journalism students at Grosse Pointe North High School and is published every two weeks. It is in practice a designated public forum without prior review. Comments should be directed to the student editors, who make all final content decisions.

The views expressed are solely those of the authors or the student editorial board and do not reflect the opinions of the Grosse Pointe School System.

We are a member of the Michigan Scholastic Press Association, Columbia Scholastic Press Association, National Scholastic Press Association and Student Press Law Center. We subscribe to McClatchy-Tribune Information Services and iStockphoto.com.

One copy is available free to all community members. Additional copies may be purchased. Our editorial policy and advertising rates are available online at myGPN.org. The North Pointe is printed on 100% recycled paper.

CONTACT US 707 Vernier Road Grosse Pointe Woods MI, 48236 Phone: 313.432.3248 Email: northpointe@gpschools.org Twitter: @myGPN FACULTY ADVISER: Shari Adwers, CJE

Editor’s desk maria liddane

Move past appearance, eliminate body comments “The first day of school freshman year, a senior guy came up to me I didn’t know and was like, ‘Are you anorexic?’”

Senior Mariah Herfi is 5 feet 3 inches and 85 pounds.

“I was like, ‘No?’ I don’t know you, you’re asking me this very personal question, like even if I was why would I tell you? You’re some random stranger in the staircase on the first day of school.”

It scarred her high school experience.

“Nobody goes up to someone and goes, ‘You’re fat. You need to lose weight,’ but people go up to people and say, ‘You’re skinny. You need to gain weight.’”

The comments are incessant. A substitute teacher sought her out after class and asked if she eats enough – she said yes. The sub’s response: “You should work on that.”

A person is not born self-conscious. The feeling manifests after an accumulation of “harmless observations.” Herfi can’t count the number of first impressions that began with, “You’re skinny.”

“I’m a person. Everyone says don’t judge a book by its cover, but everyone does it. This is my cover, and no one can accept it.”

Petite physiques are subject for open discussion.

What goes unmentioned of someone with a thicker build is shoved in the spotlight for the skinnies.

“It used to be a thing like, ‘Oh, supermodel size, I’m so jealous.’ But now it’s like, there’s skinny, there’s nice weight, and there’s overweight,” Herfi said. “You literally have to be in the middle.”

What mainstream America glorifies, it also criticizes.

“People always get mad if skinny people are insecure about their weight, and it’s like, ‘You made me this way.’ It is not my fault.

It’s one thing to say people who are bigger are pretty, but it’s another thing to say the whole ‘Guys like girls with curves not bones.’

There’s no boundaries on saying stuff about skinny people. There are definitely boundaries on staying stuff about people who are overweight. … You can be equally insecure if you’re 600 pounds, or 80.”

I’m 5 feet 7 inches and weigh about 115 pounds.

Some have said “gangly” (I prefer “long” – doesn’t it just sound nicer?).

In middle school, an adult advised me to “Go eat five cheeseburgers.”

At an away basketball game my freshman year, some fan jeered “Anorexic!”

The list goes on. Kids and adults have noted my “skinniness.” It seems like a compliment. But as I’ve aged, I’ve grown more wary.

“It’s never flattering,” Herfi said. “It’s never, ‘Oh my gosh you have a beautiful body’ or ‘Oh my gosh you’re so tiny and nice.’ It’s usually like, ‘You’re skinny.’”

“When I look in the mirror, I don’t see skinny, like I have no perception of it.

I just see me,” she said. “I don’t see twig arms and twiggy legs. I just look in the mirror,l0 and I see me.

I’ve moved past my weight.”

It’d be nice if we all could.

On Campus

4– North Pointe – Friday, April 4, 2014

Choir goes country

Choir students traveled to Nashville to tour historic musical sites and recording studios from March 26 to March 29.

By Alanna Sparks Photo editor

Faces in the crowd Damon Massey

For the past two years, junior Damon Massey has been interested in fashion, hoping to pursue a career in this field.

“I’m trying to go to school for business and fashion to start my own clothing line,” Massey said.

Massey plans on going to New York during spring break to attend a design class. He also plans on going to a fashion school in California over the summer with support from family members.

“My mother supports me. I have two sisters that support me. my older brother does, too,” Massey said. “I have ... a couple friends, they’re thinking about it with me. They’re trying to make designs with me.”

Massey sees the impact fashion can have.

“I like the idea of being able to ... see people out there wearing my clothing line, people talking about how this clothing line can change the world, like how they look different than everyone else with their regular just jeans and a t-shirt.” Massey said. “It’s just being able to see someone smile with my clothing.”

Sam MacConachie

ABOVE: Sophomore Jarell Cunnningham learns the basics of a guitar. “I felt accomplished because I didn’t know much about guitars, and the factory was near Starbucks, so that was awesome. Basic white girl moment,” Cunningham said.

LEFT: Junior Peter Gritsas poses in front of the poster for Wicked at the Tennesse State Museum. “Obviously, it was really interesting to go to the Tennessee State Museum, but it was connected to a theater, and I didn’t think I would find Wicked in Nashville, so I got a photo-op with the Wicked poster,” Gritsas said.

Because of her passion to learn, sophomore Sam MacConachie taught herself how to play the guitar.

“I liked artists who played guitar, and I always wanted to learn when I was little, so I just got a guitar and started playing,” MacConachie said.

MacConachie enjoys expressing herself and showing off her skills publicly.

“I’ve been performing in front of people for a long time,” she said.

Over time, MacConachie learned to better her playing skills, and now, writes her own music.

“I like creating my own music, and you can bring it basically anywhere, like to parties or family gatherings,” she said.

Music has become an important component in MacConachie’s life. After playing for about three years, she loves to see the faces of others when she strums on her guitar.

James Lee

ABOVE: Senior Abby Casterline pets a horse in downtown Memphis. “I liked walking downtown Memphis. It was a horse that was set up on a carriage. There was this cute guy inside that was telling us about the horse and how the horse was sad because she wasn’t seeing her boyfriend. I just thought everyone was cool and unique and nice and outgoing. Everyone wanted to talk to you,” Casterline said.

LEFT: Sophmore James Shelton enjoys musical exhibits at RCA Records. “RCA Records was one of the greatest things we saw.

Our tour guide, Brenda, was like my best friend for an hour or two,” Shelton said.

FIVE MINUTES WITH

Lifeskills teacher Stacy Krzyminski

By Jenna Belote staff reporter

Jeffery valentic

Lifeskills teacher, Stacy Krzyminski, points to her replica of Duchess Kate Middleton’s engagement ring. As she explains, in excitment, her royal crush on Prince Harry.

His personality, looks and royal blood sparked love interest in lifeskills teacher Stacy Krzyminski. Prince Harry of Wales is her true celebrity crush.

“My sister and I would always fight over who would get who, and I obviously won ‘cause Prince William is just not cute,” Krzyminski said.

This infatuation sprouted randomly within the past few years, and since then it has only gotten stronger by the day.

Krzyminski’s students are well aware of her celebrity crush, since her eyes light up and her tone grows enthusiastic when Prince Harry’s name leaves her mouth.

The obsession is even more evident now that she has obtained a replica of Duchess Kate Middleton’s engagement ring, which she shows off daily. Krzyminski even wears prominently royal blues and purples as Middleton tends to do.

Kryzyminski awes her students with information she knows about

the royal family. Krzyminski often relays breaking news on the royal family to her classes, especially about her main interest, Prince Harry.

“He is more real in the fact that he has made mistakes, he’s admitted to them, and he’s moved on.

It makes him more personable,” Krzyminski said.

These traits of his are what attracted her to the royal prince.

This deep connection she feels with Prince Harry makes her want to be a part of the royal family.

While the amount of information she knows about the royal family and the prince is astonishing, Krzyminski plans to expand her knowledge in the near future.

“I am visiting London and Buckingham Palace hopefully next summer,” Krzyminski said. She hopes the trip will provide even more stories and pictures for her to show off.

Whether it’s in class or in everyday life, Krzyminski will always consider herself part royalty.

Junior James Lee has his future set on joining the military. He is participating in a military auxiliary program, Civil Air Patrol, to gain early experience.

“The first and last weeks of the month, we dress up and learn about the military, how planes work, Newton’s laws of physics, how to fly.

And then the middle two weeks are drill and PT,” Lee said.

Lee attends a class once a week every month at the Clinton Township Police Department for training by military personnel. He is a part of the Van Dyke Cadet. Lee learns about the military’s transportation and equipment through these outlets.

“Part of it is being a high schooler, part of it is world experience and also wanting to learn how planes and tanks work, work on a ship, get some real hands-on experience, not just talk with a veteran about it,” Lee said.

By Mallika Kanneganti, Kristina Kowalski & Luke Sturgill Who is your hero?

My grandma because she was so tough because she had polio and was still able to raise a family.

What is on your bucket list?

I want to travel to all 50 states, backpack through Europe and cage dive with sharks.

Do you have any superstitions?

You can’t talk about no hitters in baseball, and wishing upon stars is probably my favorite.

What’s your favorite city you’ve visited?

I really like Chicago because I like the scene and feel of it. I like how you are in a big city, but you feel like you’re in a smaller city if you’re in the right areas.”

What would you be if you weren’t a teacher?

I studied pre-law before I studied education, so I think I’d be something along the lines of family court or family law.

Why do you like teaching fashion design?

It’s an ever-changing industry, and it’s something I think everyone can get into.

What’s your favorite decade when it comes to clothing style?

I would have to say the Victorian era because of the lace, and they were very big in the feminine skirts and details. But if you were going for a modern touch to style, I liked the 50s and 60s for their classic cardigans and more vibrant colors that came into play.

life

North Pointe – Friday, April 4, 2014 – 5

Please don’t stop the music

As summer approaches, warm weather brings a plethora of concert opportunities. Fresh faces, artists and concert-goers alike will flock to locations throughout Michigan to be part of the music.

By Gabby Burchett, Melina Glusac & Patricia Bajis senior assitant editors

ELECTRIC FOREST AND DEMF

LANA DEL REY

5 SECONDS OF SUMMER

In addition to housing visiting musicians, Michigan is home to some well-known music festivals, too.

Since 2000, the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (better known as DEMF) has attracted many to Campus Martius Park where the techno concert experience is free of charge. Other nearby attractions include the Meadowbrook Music Festival taking place in April (this year featuring Vampire Weekend, The Cult, The Avett Brothers and Panic! At the Disco).

But junior Annie Armbruster is looking forward to another festival.

“I’m excited for Electric Forest ... that’s a three-day music festival, and it’s super tight,” Armbruster said.

“I heard a lot of great things about it. You just camp out in a forest, and it’s just like music all day and all night and art and stuff. It’s cool; it’s cool.”

Located in the Sherwood Forest in Rothbury, Michigan, Electric Forest runs from June 26-29 and is a neon mecca for electronic acts. This year’s lineup includes Zedd, Matt & Kim and Aloe Blacc.

“I mostly go to electronic music shows because they’re cheaper,” Armbruster said. “But I go to some rap concerts. I don’t really like country music, but I like going to the (WYCD Downtown) Hoedown, so I might go to that. Oh, I’m going to Movement (Electronic Music Festival) in Detroit.”

Additional information and tickets for DEMF can be found at www.movement.us/home, while tickets for Electric Forest are available at electricforestfestival.com.

Lana Del Rey is a vintage-inspired crooner known for her romantic, tormented lyrics and whispery voice — and an infamous Saturday Night Live performance.

Fans have the opportunity to flock to this indie darling on May 15 at the Masonic Temple in Detroit.

Senior Chrissy Panagos is one of them.

“I’m really excited to hear her play her popular songs like ‘Young and Beautiful’ and ‘National Anthem,’” Panagos said.

For Panagos, Del Rey’s uniqueness is a selling point.

“I’m going because my sister bought my tickets, and I just love Lana’s music,” Panagos said. “It sounds like pop music, but it has a deeper meaning. She has a really interesting voice. She’s not like other artists.”

The New York siren burst onto the scene in 2011 after releasing her single “Video Games” with a music video to match. Subsequently, her debut album, Born to Die, became the fifth best-selling album of 2012.

The Great Gatsby soundtrack further catapulted Del Rey into the spotlight, yet she didn’t abandon her signature style to achieve popular status.

“I like how she’s not in your face all the time like other artists,” Panagos said. “She doesn’t try to act or even really dance. She’s just all about the singing. She doesn’t try to do everything.”

Tickets are currently available for purchase through various ticket outlets and on lanadelrey. com.

Start with One Direction. Add swoon-worthy Australian accents. Subtract one member. The product? 5 Seconds of Summer, coming to the Royal Oak Music Theatre on April 18.

The kangaroo quartet consists of Michael Clifford, Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood and Ashton Irwin.

Freshman Nadya Herfi is pumped to hear them after they cross the pond.

“I can’t wait to see Luke’s face and see them live.

They’re from Australia, so they don’t come to America much, and the fact they are coming to America is exciting,” Herfi said. “They’re only doing six shows in the U.S., and the fact that they chose Michigan, that’s pretty rare.”

Their current lineup formed in 2011, and the band gained traction through social media. So much, in fact, their un-promoted EP, Unplugged, reached #3 on the iTunes chart in Australia. Since then, songs like “She Looks So Perfect” have climbed the charts worldwide.

With a rockier edge and colorfully eclectic hair, the band attracts a large female fanbase.

“I love their voices and their personalities,” Herfi said. “They sound so different. Like if you listen to Calum’s voice, or Luke’s, their voices are unique and spiffy. They’re funny and caring to their fans and not stuck up. Their music makes me happy.”

Tickets can be purchased on a variety of sites including stubhub.com and ticketmaster.com, but are not sold through the band’s website.

upcoming concerts April

Miley Cyrus | April 12 | Palace of Auburn Hills The National | April 12 | Calvin College Van Noord Arena The Wanted | April 18 | The Fillmore Cher | April 19 | Joe Louis Arena M.I.A. | April 30 | Masonic Temple

May

The 1975 | May 4 | The Crofoot John Legend | May 10 | Chenery Auditorium Foster the People | May 15 | The Fillmore Lady Gaga | May 17 | Joe Louis Arena Skrillex | May 28 | Masonic Temple Theatre

June

Bruno Mars | June 17 | Van Andel Arena Backstreet Boys | June 17 | DTE Energy Music Theatre Luke Bryan | June 18 | DTE Energy Music Theatre Beck | June 28 | Fox Theatre Neon Trees | June 28 | The Fillmore

July

Fall Out Boy | July 8 | DTE Energy Music Theater Journey | July 9 | DTE Energy Music Theater Neutral Milk Hotel | July 17 | Royal Oak Music Theatre Panic! At The Disco | July 27 | Meadowbrook Music festival Justin Timberlake | July 28 | The Palace of Auburn Hills

August

The Avett Brothers | Aug. 5 | Meadowbrook Music Festival Katy Perry | Aug. 10 & 11 | Van Andel Arena One Direction | Aug. 16 & 17 | Ford Field Lady Antebellum | Aug. 22 | DTE Energy Music Theatre Eminem & Rihanna | Aug. 22 & 23 | Comerica Park

September

Eagles | Sept. 8 | Van Andel Arena Hunter Hayes | Sept. 12 | Allegan County Fair Reba McEntire | Sept. 20 | St. Joseph Grange Fair Rascal Flatts | Sept. 21 | DTE Energy Music Theatre Sheryl Crow | Sept. 21 | DTE Music Theatre www.motorward.com

Senior designers offered unique opportunity for spring fashion show

By Marie Bourke & Kristen Kaled senior assistant editors

The spring fashion show “Sail into Spring” will be featuring some new designers this year – Norsemen.

Students completing an independent study in fashion and fabrics were invited to create and model their own designs. The Parent Club will host the fashion show and dinner on Thursday, April 10 at 6 p.m. at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club.

“I’m very happy for the opportunity,” Fashion and Fabrics teacher Stacy Krzyminski said. “I think it’s going to be great for North students to showcase the program and what we are able to do. It gives them an opportunity to create.”

Although senior Alana Lorkowski’s future won’t likely involve making clothes, having fashion and designing as a hobby led her to create five varying pieces, two of which she chose for the fashion show.

“I’m gonna do a skirt, and then I have a dress and a top that I bought. I’m gonna remake and have it fit my body,” Lorkowski said. “I have my skirt done. I made two skirts by scratch, and one of them doesn’t fit. I’m almost done on my top.”

Lorkowski started learning her skills in high school and has been using them since.

“I probably learned how to use a sewing machine in like ninth grade, and I never did much with it, and I’ve taken Fashion and Fabrics.”

Even though it’s easiest to size clothing to fit the designer, Lorkowski hoped that her styles could be modeled by a classmate. Getting to keep them and wear them later, she says, is “the only good part.”

Senior Alana Lorkowski shows her designed outfit (left) and models her skirt (right).

The students invited to design for the show have previous experience in fashion. The majority of the girls will be creating dresses.

“They’re supposed to do a t-shirt dress, which is taking any type of t-shirt and putting a skirt on it, taking off the sleeves so it kind of becomes like a strapless,” Krzyminski said.

She envisions these dresses to be an early spring or fall addition to a wardrobe that girls would enjoy wearing to an event.

“This is the first year we’ve been asked to design anything for it, so this is our first, hopefully, of many more,” Krzyminski said.

Senior Carmen Thomas is eager to put her designing skills out into the world. She created both a skirt and a dress for the fashion show.

“It’s a great opportunity. I’m so glad that Mrs. K. told me about it ‘cause I get to put what I made, my designs, out in the open. I can’t do that anywhere else right now, so it’s nice.”

The seniors began working on the projects this semester, but Thomas admits that she still has to complete her dress, and they’re pressed for time.

While most girls work on their designing skills with a model, Thomas draws her own figures as well as designs.

“I have been drawing since forever,” Thomas said. “I did that before I started sewing, so soon I’ll be able to make something that I’ve drawn because I haven’t done that yet. It’s a little more advanced.”

While Thomas is excited to show off her work, she isn’t so excited to be the one modeling. However, since she wants to be able to wear the clothes in the future, she chose to fit them to her measurements and model them.

“You get to see both sides,” Thomas said, “the modeling side, and the fashion and desig n i ng side which Senior Carmen Thomas models the skirt she is nice.” created (left) and creates a sketch of the dress she plans to make(right).

Fashion has always been a part of senior Colleen Maher’s life, but the opportunity to model her handmade clothes in the spring fashion show was an exciting surprise.

“I didn’t expect to be involved in something like this for another couple years, so to actually get to have my looks go down a runway is really incredible,” Maher said. “It’s definitely going to give me a boost, and I think it will give me an edge when I go to school next year.”

Maher plans to pursue a career in fashion design, as she discovered her passion for the field freshman year and realized she would like to go to school for it. “(I could do) fashion journalism, working for a magazine or something, and I think that would be really fun, or my other option would be event coordinating, wedding planning or something like that. It kind of all falls under fashion design.”

This year Maher has built up her skills to be well-prepared for college. Her fashion show pieces are helping, as she is designing two dresses. One is a drapey, Gatsby-inspired dress, the other a loose, floral spring dress.

“It’s going to be really cool, and I’ve never been to the fashion show, and so I think that in and of itself is going to be fun.”

Senior Colleen Maher models the dress she created for the fashion show.

6 – Friday, April 4, 2014 – North Pointe

REVIEWS

Creating a buzz mastered the art of blending sarcastic humor and sincere news into one extremely well put-together site.

After much time spent exploring, BuzzFeed begins to develop the feel of an extremely long, yet sophisticated, Tumblr post categorized in a very clean manner. No matter how interesting, eventually, the site loses its luster and stories eventually begin to sound the same.

However, the YouTube channels that BuzzFeed operates spice up the content and separates it from similar entertainment sites. BuzzFeed’s channels bring its posts to life with skits, stop motion and creative visuals. One of its most viewed series shows the “secrets” of popular food chains, such as secret Starbucks drinks and how to combine food from different fast food chains to create the ultimate behemoth meal. This element passes any competition and explores a new realm of information delivery that other news outlets haven’t found profitable.

With strong, enticing content that also informs using different mediums to convey information, BuzzFeed will command readers’ attention for hours. Readers are offered many ways to interact with the content, and these ways are easy to access, use and understand. rg

ill

what’s going on but are turned off by the intensity of a mainstream news outlet.

The topics they cover are relevant to the teenage range and also quench the creative side.

The amount of content that it produces is beyond impressive. Multiple stories, quizzes and posts

tu

BuzzFeed — a website dedicated to curating the best social news and entertainment content — has developed into a modern day media mogul. The company was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti, also a founder of Huffington Post, as a project he referred to as “labs” which would track the trends of popular web content. From these “labs,” BuzzFeed expa nded a nd launched its current, website, app a nd YouTube cha nnels which have ga rnered a recent massive follow ing.

The website, which impressively offers almost 400 updates every day, is loaded with up-to-date content.

They reports on national and world news, politics, business, technology and sports. They also keeps updates on interesting celebrity stories and scandals, new and upcoming books and popular comics. Under their life section, it has stories on food recipes and facts, animals, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, travel, style and offer do-ityourself projects. Buzzfeed’s app, free and available in both the Apple and Google Play stores, converts the website into a mobile-friendly platform but does not offer any new features that the website doesn’t already have.

On its two YouTube channels (BuzzFeedVideo and BuzzFeedYellow), which have almost 2.5 million subscribers combined, Buzzfeed takes some of its stories and make them into videos. These videos fall under many categories and include the highly-watched “Fun Facts” and “Life Hacks” series. It also has dabbled into a bit of comedy creating videos such as “Guys do their girlfriends’ makeup” and “Fast food mashups we dare you to try.” In these challenges, real BuzzFeed employees

participate in the task and can be seen in multiple videos.

The BuzzFeed website also offers a community section for readers that frequent the website. This allows an individual to create an account profile and start contributing their own posts to be considered for publication.

Given a limit of one post suggestion

eS

senior assistant editor

Lu k

By Patricia Bajis

Grade: A BuzzFeed Jonah Peretti Dec. 10, 2013 Apple Free

per day by the BuzzFeed editors, users are given a post template and can submit it to the website. It will then be reviewed and possibly be featured on the site.

BuzzFeed is for those who wish to be informed and want to keep up with

will grace the phone screen every day. There is always something waiting to be read, something entertaining, high-quality and that expresses the literary merit that will keep the audience entertained. Its writers seemed to have

Muppets Most Wanted

Shakira.

Shade of The Moon

Glide

B-

C+

B+

B

Nostalgia is a proven ingredient of cinematic success.

Ji m Hen son’s company waited over 30 years since the debut of his show, for muppets.disney.com this film’s stars (then-children) actors and actresses who wouldn’t turn down roles in a film with their old puppet companions.

The opening song mentions a sequel never being as strong as its antecedent.

This holds true as expectations were almost met, but the archaic “happily ever after” plotline made viewers check the clock to see when this hour-and-52minute movie was done.

A tune from the last film, “Man or Muppet,” won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Muppets Most Wanted won’t be making any cameos during award season, but the celebrity cameos in the film were plentiful (think Lady Gaga). Lip-synching wasn’t as precise as the last film, but when Tina Fey masters a Saturday Night Live-worthy Russian accent, it’s overlooked.

Essentially, the Muppets go on a world tour managed by Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais), who’s in cahoots with the world’s most evil frog, Constantine.

Constantine escapes a Siberian gulag run by Nadya (Tina Fey) and switches places with Kermit the Frog. Badguy and Constantine attempt to steal the Crown Jewels, and a Jacques Clouseau-esque Interpol agent, Jean Pierre Napoleon (Ty Burrell), works with Sam Eagle to solve the crime.

The film had entertaining moments, but there was snoring more frequently than laughs. It was too long and didn’t have enough of a spark to keep the audience attentive.

Leaving behind her statement “Waka Waka’s,” Shakira embodies the current music sensations and throws down an album with Itunes.apple.com funky beats.

This album has songs for every type of listener — from fast-paced, dance songs like “Dare (La La La)” to folksy ballads like “23.” The one thing missing is Shakira’s characteristic Latin-influences that typically make her music alluring.

This album is more Americanized with pop-culture-inspired tunes and one addition of country twang. However, this leaves a serious longing for the Colombian highlights usually present in her music.

The vocals are not a problem. Shakira’s throaty tone and charming accent make her sound flawless and enticing. Mixed with the unique and hip beats, the two are a power duo.

After hearing “Can’t Remember to Forget You” on repeat, this debut song, featuring Rihanna, is still toe-tappingly good.

A welcome addition to the album is Shakira’s solo version of this same song, “Nunca Me Acuerdo de Olvidarte”, which is animated and fresh. The other matchups with MAGIC! and Blake Shelton are certainly distinct. MAGIC!, a reggae-pop band, strikes the perfect balance between their style and Shakira’s signature sound. This song is catchy and notable.

“Medicine” contains the classic twangs and country lyrics of Blake Shelton but doesn’t meet in the middle. Shakira just doesn’t fit in the country/folk world.

Although Shakira’s attempt to broaden her style of music is appreciated, the album is not a complete success. While there are a few magnetic songs, this album is not all that it is cracked up to be.

Muppets Most Wanted, 2014, James Bobin, PG

By Lauren Semack

Shakira; Shakira.; Ace Entertainment; 2014: $9.99

By Kayla Luteran

After the success of her science fiction trilogy Life As We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer was inspired to add a fourth book, The Shade of the Moon. onthewingsofbooks.com

The events of the series begin when a meteor collides with the moon, pushing it closer to Earth.

This causes natural disasters, leading to famines and the decline of a functional government. The first three books focus on young adults Miranda Evans and Alex Morales, but the protagonist of The Shade of the Moon is Miranda’s younger brother, Jon. Four years after the collision, Jon is living with his stepmother and stepbrother, separated from the rest of his family both by distance and social class. Jon, Lisa and Gabe are upper-class clavers, while the rest of his loved ones are working-class grubs. Because of this, Jon often doesn’t know with whom to side during conflict.

Jon still feels guilt over the death of Alex’s sister Julie but then meets and falls in love with a claver girl, Sarah, who has no hesitation over picking a side. Jon is inspired by Sarah and learns to make hard decisions .

While the first three books focus mostly on survival and love, The Shade of the Moon has the theme of discrimination. Access to food and electricity is now somewhat restored, but the government is highly flawed, and now there is a lot of violence between the two social classes.

The book ends abruptly, leaving the reader yearning for a sequel. But in the author’s note, Pfeffer mentions that she is unsure if she will write another.

The Shade of the Moon is slightly dull compared to the previous three books, but for any science fiction or dystopian fans, it is worth reading.

The Shade of the Moon; Susan Beth Pfeffer; 288 pp.; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; $17.99.

By Mallika Kanneganti

Glide claims to be “the fastest way to send and receive video messages” – and it is.

The app allows users to send and resocialtimes.com ceive video messages to one or multiple people with one tap. The videos can be watched live or saved in a stream. If users miss out on part of the conversation, it’s easy to catch up – it plays the conversation straight through like a movie.

Best feature: it doesn’t take up phone storage other than the app itself. Sending a simple video through a text is a pain because it takes up space in the photo album. With Glide, the videos are stored on the app and can be deleted at any time, and videos are automatically uploaded with minimal hassle.

The app allows for written text when a video isn’t convenient. Users can quickly add a response without exiting the app or creating a video.

However, it’s occasionally glitchy in the recording process. Sometimes it seems to record in slow motion, compromising a high-quality video. It is also easy to tap the record button on accident due to the slowness, making it record twice.

Like Snapchat, videos can be sent to multiple people. But Glide is an instantaneous video dialogue that allows users to see when someone in the message is recording. Filters are also available.

Glide is a dynamic tool for everyday conversation between friends and family.

Glide; Jon Caras; March 2013; (Android, Apple); Free

By Marie Bourke

Sports

QUICK HITs Extreme winter Weather causes scheduling issues Weather and field conditions caused JV and varsity boys lacrosse teams’ first games to be cancelled. This forced North to reschedule their first games against nearby rival De La Salle Collegiate High School. Originally the game was to be played on March 19.

“Well for us, I think, since we cancelled those games and had practices instead, we got more prepared for our season,” head coach Mark Seppala said. “Overall, I don’t think the weather has affected us as negatively as it could have.”

Lacrosse players were later informed that their second game against Stoney Creek High School was cancelled due to weather conditions. Although the excitement of the first game was abruptly taken away, athletes felt a wave of relief crash over them when they heard there would be more practice time instead of rushing into a game unprepared.

“I was kind of disappointed because I wanted to play in a game as soon as we had a few practices,” sophomore Andrew Tomasi said. “But it was better for the team because we hadn’t gone over systems yet for offense.”

girls freshman soccer team cut The freshman girls soccer team has been started and discontinued multiple times in the past few years.

This year, they finally called it quits.

“There wasn’t enough girls for the freshman team.

Also, a lot of high schools don’t have a freshman team, so if we did have one, the freshman girls wouldn’t play any games. But we still had to go through tryouts for JV and go through cuts, but we all made it,” freshman JV player Tatiana Giammarco said.

There was a lack of participation in tryouts this year.

Freshman JV player Sarah Wietecha thinks it’s due to the other activities offered.

“A lot of girls, especially freshmen, have played soccer before and wanted to try something new North offers, like lacrosse,” Wietecha said.

The other possibility is that freshmen weren’t informed about soccer tryouts.

“I’m not sure (why girls didn’t). I don’t know if a lot them even knew about girls soccer and forgot. That’s my theory,” freshman JV player Chloe Walters said.

North Pointe – Friday, April 4, 2014 – 7

Freshman sees no physical limitation

By Dayle Maas & Brigitte Smith Senior Assistant editors

She was born with a passion.

She was also born with only one arm.

But that hasn’t stopped her.

Freshman Megan Louwers has an underdeveloped left arm, but it never minimized her desire to play soccer.

“I think it was (destiny) for her to play soccer,” Megan’s dad David Louwers said.

Megan played for Neighborhood Club as a kid, but her love for soccer spiked when she joined a travel team at 10.

“I always pushed myself, and I did a lot of practice, and I worked my way up,” Megan said. “I always like some challenge.”

Her dad believes her attitude to overcome any limits has helped sculpt her into a strong person, on and off the field.

“I guess I don’t think about it that much because it is what it is, and I just know she has one arm, and I’ve never thought of her as what it would be like if she had two arms,” David said. “I think she’s a much stronger person with one arm.”

On the field, her dad recognizes Megan’s dedication.

“This is a girl that will go out on the driveway in the wintertime with snow around her and start juggling the ball. That’s how passionate she is,” David said.

This dedication paid off and landed Megan a spot on the varsity squad.

“When she crosses those lines she’s very competitive, and you can see that in a game. She’s a player that never quits but is just fun to watch when the ball is on her foot.

She’s pretty much like a magician with the ball — with her moves off the ball and with the ball,” coach Skip Mukhtar said.

Even with the varsity-level competition, Megan doesn’t see her underdeveloped limb as a disadvantage against her opponents.

“Maybe in the beginning, you know, maybe they feel like, ‘Oh, I feel bad.’ But I think that once we get going, once I push against them, and they push against me, and it works out,” Megan said. “It’s always good to be pushed.

I don’t want people to be scared to push me.”

Last year, Megan took a spill during a game. Her lack of balance and weak arm couldn’t withstand the pressure of the fall, breaking the humerus in her left arm. But she trained even harder.

“I’ve been finding ways to work it out. Like now I have a prosthesis, and I can do all different stuff. So now I just (get) to work on my prosthesis, and I just have to work on ways to keep my balance,” Megan said.

After her injury, she used her prosthesis only to build up arm strength, doing push-ups and pull-ups. Other than that, she doesn’t feel the need to wear it in public.

“It’s like a plastic arm, and at the wrist there’s things

Brigitte Smith

Brigitte smith

Louwers defends against Anchor Bay during the varsity home opener on March 24.

where you can hook different things, different claws in.

There’s a stub that makes me do push ups. It’s really helped because now this arm is getting stronger,” Megan said.

Throughout the process, she has had her family’s support.

“She was doing her passion, so I thought that was more important than any fear I had,” David said.

Something as simple as tying her shoes, however, is a challenge, but Megan doesn’t let this dampen her mood when playing.

“Her personality is great. She’s great. She’s just a great teammate, always a good person to have around and always a smile on her face,” Muktar said.

She developed an attitude and passion for soccer that outweighs anything that could have held her back because of her arm.

“I don’t know, ever since I was little, I’ve always been able to work my way around things,” Megan said. “It’s just really something you’re born with ,and I think there’s challenges, but they are good challenges, and I think just having one arm helped me be stronger as a person.”

Being put straight on to the JV or varsity team could add pressure for the girls to perform better than they normally would.

“I mean, there’s a freshman team for a reason, usually, and I don’t think they’re so hard on you, but on JV, they might have higher expectations,” Walters said.

Freshman JV player Alyssa Velasco thinks otherwise.

“I am not too worried. I’ve had experience with the sport. I can keep up,” Velasco said.

The girls varsity lacrosse team gathers around Coach Bill Seaman as he instructs them during a timeout.

By Olivia Asimakis & Claire Dalian

Girls lacrosse coach leaves lasting legacy

By Jennifer Kusch & Izzy Ellery Ideas editor & Senior assistant editor

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Bill Seaman, girls varsity lacrosse coach of 16 years, announced his retirement last year, bidding farewell to the program he pioneered.

“I am — well, was — a lacrosse lifer. So this would have been my 39th season of lacrosse,” Seaman said. “I coached at North from the 1998 season on, so it was 16 seasons.”

During those years, Seaman shaped the lives of many players and coaches alike.

“I was really upset about Bill’s retirement,” senior Cait Gaitley said. “I’ve known him since I was young, and my sisters played for him, so it was really sad to hear I wouldn’t be able to play my senior year for him.”

“He’s definitely gonna be missed. He was a good mentor for me,” JV coach Larry VanOverbeke said. “He taught me a lot about the game. He was my daughter’s coach for four years and actually was able to get her to go on to play collegiate Division 1, so I have a lot of respect for him, his skills and ability to teach.”

The program is now in the hands of Chris Sims, who previously coached the JV team. Sims was surprised by Seaman’s retirement.

“It was shocking, of course. We would never want to see someone retire, but we’ve known him, and it’s just a thing we’ve kind of started to talk about a year or so ago,” she said. “When it finally happened, we were like, ‘Okay, I guess he’s prepared us in a way that we can take over when that time did come.’”

Seaman had a long and storied run as the varsity head coach,

and saying goodbye to his program was not easy. However, he knows Sims will be able to handle the job and hopes she will have as great an experience as he had.

“You can’t beat the experience of winning that big game and riding back on the bus with a bunch of happy teenagers ... I’ve always had great athletes, great parents and a very supportive athletic department. So it was a great, great experience for me and will be for her,” Seaman said.

Sims is eager to lead the team to success, and she feels well prepared to do so this season.

“When I found out it was official, it was just time to get to work,” Sims said.

Sims has a strong background in the sport, having played for University Liggett School and Xavier University.

“It helps me, being able to better relate to the development of lacrosse players and seeing how the game has changed and evolved,” Sims said. “It’s given me a better awareness of the rules of the game, so it’s easier to teach the girls and how it applies to the skills that they’re using. Being involved in a game and actually participating helped me better see how they can develop their skills on a gradual level using my experiences.”

Players have high hopes for this season.

“I think Chris is going to make a great varsity coach. She’s had experience coaching, and all of the players already know her,” Gaitley said.

Sophomore Caroline Bock agrees with Gaitley and cannot wait to see what this season with Sims will have in store.

“I think that the new coach will have a big impact on the team as a whole this year ... and help us continue to develop the skills we need to succeed,” Bock said.

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It’s March 20, and with 53 seconds left in the Dayton v. Ohio State basketball game, 7 hour begins. Despite the sound of the bell, the seniors of Andrew Taylor’s AP European History class are still gathered around one iPhone, livestreaming the game, witnessing Dayton’s unexpected win.

“Back in the day, the kids would have to come and say, ‘Can we turn it on?’ I’d say no, and then it’d be over. As for now, they’ll still have it on,” Taylor said. “So I mean the phones are a little bit more of a distraction, but if not (the game), then it’s something else. There’s always a new video that someone wants to show someone. It’s a little annoying, but not much different.”

Instead of focusing on the annoyances March Madness brings into the classroom, Taylor has morphed the concept into a learning activity for his freshman World History students.

Taylor’s students must select one leader from the last 500 years of history and make a one-to-two minute video about why they think their leader is the most influential. Various leaders face off, and the video and leader voted the best advance up the bracket.

Requiring the use of videos for the

senior assistant editors

By Brigitte Smith & Izzy Ellery

project enables Taylor to show the video multiple times, as well as to different classes. Taylor can spread the videos over the span of the month. The video presentations make it easier for Taylor to know how many fit in the span of a class period, as opposed to the unpredictability of speeches.

“By doing a video, it allows us to really spread it out and make it more interesting instead of sitting through many speeches,” Taylor said.

Freshmen Charlee Tokarz and Lauren Archambeau created a rap video in Kmart to present Philo T. Farnsworth and his invention of the TV. “We decided to do something different because we thought it would get people’s attention and vote for us so we could win,” Archambeau said.

They liked the bracketing system of March Madness because of its competitive edge.

“Instead of just making a video, it just makes it competitive. It makes it more fun,” Tokarz said.

Taylor has seen this idea used in the classrooms of other schools.

“I didn’t invent it. Other people are doing it in the U.S.,” Taylor said.

This method can be used in other subjects. Chemistry classes use it to compare elements, and math classes use it to evaluate math equations.

“It doesn’t have to be with history.

It’s just the idea of ranking things and to start to evaluate which one is more important than the other,” Taylor said.

This ranking and evaluating learning tool has not yet spread to other classrooms at North, however Archambeau wishes it would.

“More classes should do it because it really gets kids, like they want to do something like that because it’s more fun,” Archambeau said. “It’s a clever idea. It actually makes kids try hard and do their best so they could win.”

FLICKR: 1,040 photos uploaded

YOUTUBE: 665,000 videos viewed

ONLINE ACTIVITY DURING A REGULATION 20-SECOND TIMEOUT FACEBOOK: 230,000 posts TWITTER: 59,000 tweets

SOCIAL MEDIA TIMEOUT:

bracket each year

1 in 10 Americans fill out a March Madness

BY THE NUMBERS

The

$1,325

e dan lid l .ly a i r ua m a v is

The actual price paid for a Final Four ticket:

have been #1 seeds

55% of the national champions

16th seed has never made it past the first round

9.2 quintillion chance of choosing a perfect bracket

If there were a 50/50 chance of winning a game, there would be a

There are 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 possible bracket outcomes

The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s much-advertised “bracket busting” tournament has materialized over the past month. Take a look at the stats from the month that generates millions annually for the NCAA, and learn how one teacher is harnessing that basketball fever.

in Depth

INSIDE THE MADNESS

Social studies teacher puts sports frenzy to use

8 – Friday, April 4, 2014 – North Pointe